“Social media service providers shall be required to pull down accounts used in disseminating undesirable political contents on their platform that have (sic) brought to their attention within 24 hours,” say the guidelines.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter already have their own guidelines for weeding harmful and hateful content.

These guidelines do not always match with the wishes of the State, as was seen last year when the Kenya Film Classification Board tussled with YouTube over a video.Those posting political content on social media will also be required to state any allegiances to politicians and ensure that it is truthful.

If unsure whether it is inflammatory, those posting are supposed to cool their heels for 24 hours as they seek approval from the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

The CA amended the rules from the draft first proposed in June getting rid of clauses that would have required Kenyans to be “polite” and “civilised” on social media.

The guidelines also cover the spread of political content via SMS warning parties against disseminating hate speech.